Girl Meets Lucas
by Emilongbottom99
Summary: Everyone had always told her that she was a calming influence on Lucas. She knew it was because she always managed to keep her head level and optimistic in tough situations. But she had never been less prepared for what came next; In which Riley and Lucas have a more than toxic relationship in High School Rated M for a reason: Rucas/Joshaya fic
1. Prologue

**A/N: This takes place after season 2 (and 3) and is based more off of some of the spoilers of GM high school because apparently nothing really gets resolved and I assume that they (Lucas, Riley, Maya) all agree to be just friends at one point. So this is during that grey area that becomes not so grey in this Rucas fanfic. Warning: abuse/sexual assault/violence.**

 **I don't own any of the characters**

XXXXXXXXX

She hadn't meant for it to be like this.

She had had no choice, she knew she was weak but she had never really realized how weak until she was presented with the most difficult experience of her life.

Her and her best friend Maya had been planning a little get together was all.

Her parents had taken Auggie to a concert in Philly to which Riley had had no interest in.

"I'll be fine by myself, Dad", she had said.

"You guys will only be gone until Monday, and Maya will be with me the whole time. –No Dad, we won't throw a party. You know Maya would never and besides, I don't like that kind of stuff remember?"

It had all been so easy for those words to spill out of her mouth like they were nothing. Those words had been truthful once.

Maya had agreed to spend the weekend with her, so all was as it should have been.

"So Riles, what do you wanna do."

It had started out simple. It was just a suggestion.

It hung loose in the air and then faded when finishing homework on a Friday night became more important (by Riley's standards).

Then, there was no more homework.

And then—"Riles…I'm bored."

After simply watching TV like they usually did wouldn't suffice. It wasn't a question, and Riley knew it also wasn't quite a statement either because it was coming out of Maya's mouth.

Riley knew that when she said one of those types of _phrases_ that there would be demand for fixation.

And then, what came after only made Riley's mood dip slightly from the previous calm of listening to the soft buzz of the television.

"We should invite some people over."

Again, it was just a suggestion. It was a suggestion that Riley was quick to object to.

Riley knew her best friend. She would have to nip the conversation in the bud before it expanded beyond her control.

And expand it did.

But maybe it was the calm buzz of the television, maybe it was because all her homework was done, or maybe it was the fact that her parents weren't home because when worse came to worse, she didn't fight hard enough.

XXXXXXXXXX

What had meant to be a 'small get-together' in the words of Maya had become something much bigger.

Riley had expected this.

In all her 16 years she had seen all the teen-movies in which the small get-together had become a full-fledged party.

What she wasn't quite prepared for was the alcohol.

Though Riley was an intelligent girl, she was completely blind-sided when she realized that the liquid in the glistening red solo cups splattered across the room weren't just the passion-fruit punch that she had put out when more people had started to trickle in.

 _Who?:_ she had thought when it finally dawned on her.

From _where?:_ was her only other thought before it dissolved into thin air when Farkle and Smackle walked up to politely greet her.

Maya had set up the music while Riley had set up the food. Upstairs was off-limits they had decided, once more people came in.

Riley had mainly only spoken to Maya, Farkle, Smackle, and Zay for most of the night even though at one point, there was a good 70 people just in her living room.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. She thanked God that nobody was really rowdy. There was more of a collective laziness and a slightly drunk/buzzed feeling that layered the party.

Riley's hand tightly gripped her solo cup even though she had yet to take a sip from it.

It was after someone had suggested to play a board game when everything went to shit.

Riley had just settled on the edge of the couch with a few people she didn't even really know that well to play a slightly more drunk version of Monopoly.

She hadn't even noticed that she hadn't seen Maya in a good half-hour.

She did notice when a cold hand wrapped around her arm and tugged her off the couch.

"Maya?"

Her best friend's eyes looked sad. Before Riley could express her concern, Maya cut her off.

"Riley, it's Lucas."

Funny, Riley hadn't even realized that Lucas had shown up at all. She hadn't seen him once that whole night.

Maya took a deep breath before continuing, her hair looked like an endless mane that surrounded her; the blonde strands that fell near her mouth floated slightly as she exhaled before settling back in their original positions.

Her voice came out with a small stutter, a nervous habit from Maya that really only came out when she was really well…nervous.

"He—he's really drunk and he went up to your room a while ago—I—I tried to calm him down Riles, but he's not listening to me, he just kept saying how he was so sad and so angry and then he just stopped talking to me and I—I tried to take his bottle away, I—please Riley I know that you can calm him down, I— _he_ needs you."

The words were coming at Riley so quickly and that she barely had enough time to process them. But even so, Riley only responded with a soft, reassuring squeeze of Maya's shoulder and a grim nod before heading upstairs.

Everyone had always told Riley that she was a calming influence on Lucas. She knew it was because she always managed to keep her head level and optimistic in tough situations.

But she had never been less prepared for what came next.

She opened her bedroom door to find one of her best friends sitting on the ground at the foot of her bed.

He was holding a very large bottle of liquor that was almost subsequently drained.

He was wearing a simple blue V-neck t-shirt that stretched across the wide expanse of his chest and looked a bit tight around the bulge of his bicep muscles.

There was a dark stain on one of the legs of his jeans that Riley could only assume to be alcohol.

He looked like a drained out version of himself.

Riley was met with blood-shot eyes as soon as she had slowly entered the room. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting but it certainly wasn't the harsh black bags underneath emerald eyes with lips stuck in a pungent line.

"Lucas—"

She didn't even get to finish her sentence before he interrupted with a dark chuckle.

Riley was completely taken aback by the amount of sheer vexation that was laced with the rueful grin on Lucas's face.

"I knew she was going to send _you_ after she realized she couldn't fix me. "

His voice wasn't slurred at all which negated his appearance all together. But the fact also gave Riley a little hope.

Even so, Riley held her breath.

She knew that it was not a good idea to piss off a drunk person and he already seemed way past pissed.

Lucas suddenly stumbled to his feet, he carried his liquor bottle that only had a few more gulps left. Riley's eyes were immediately drawn to the source of the problem.

She needed to get that bottle away from him before he drank more or did something stupid with it, then maybe she would be able to reason with him.

She didn't want anyone to get hurt.

She decided to let Lucas walk closer to her so that she could make her move. His eyes drilled holes into hers and there was something eerily disturbing in the way he stalked towards her.

Riley finally found her voice. "Lucas, let me help you."

It came out small but she cautiously reached her hand out to him.

The bottle was in his right hand but she had reached towards his left.

Riley could have sworn that she had seen something soften in his dark eyes when her lips had uttered those words in the friendliest voice she could muster.

He was just in the position that she needed him to be in. Not too close, but within grabbing distance.

It seemed like Lucas was contemplating on saying something before Riley got the better of him.

Before he knew it, she had reached out and grabbed the bottle from Lucas's hand, her fingers brushed against his cold ones before roughly tugging the bottle away from his grasp.

Riley had maintained eye contact with him the whole time. When she felt her fingers wrap around the stone cold bottle she had almost let out a sigh of relief knowing that the immediate danger would be pacified.

She never got to that part.

As soon as she had snatched the bottle from him, he was on her in a flash. She hadn't seen it coming from anywhere.

Her eyes were still burning into his while she had grabbed the bottle from his hand.

Her eyes were still burning into his when that same hand immediately latched onto her wrist and slammed it into the wall behind her.

The force of his body knocked hers into the wall behind her.

All she really took note of was the way her head smacked into the dry wall.

The wrist that held the bottle twisted painfully as the liquor bottle smashed against the wall behind her and fell to the ground. She hadn't even realized that her other hand had been pushed into the wall by his as well.

She had just scrunched her eyes closed and flinched when she heard the shattering of the bottle go along with her hope.

Her eyes were still closed when she heard his voice again.

It was a deep, angry whisper and she felt his hot breath on her cheeks with each growl.

" _You_ want to help me Riley?"

She could smell the alcohol on his breath and resisted the urge to scrunch her nose up in disgust. There was a lump in her throat and she couldn't get past it.

She couldn't get herself to speak.

She could hear her heart beating fast and each throb hurt more than the last.

She hadn't known that he would be like this.

She had forgotten about how he used to be like before moving to New York.

She had forgotten that Mr. Perfect could be _dangerous_.

Riley almost found the courage to open her eyes before he spoke again.

"I am so sick and _tired_ of you trying to fix everything. Remember how, for _months_ you lied to me because you were trying to make things 'better'?"

His voice came out as a hiss that stung Riley with each word.

She knew he was talking about the whole brother/Texas thing way back when. His hands held her wrists in a painful vice grip pinned against the wall behind her.

At this point there was only a hair of space separating their bodies as he continued. "And then I found out you loved me. Not from you of course. But immediately after, you _begged_ for all of us to stay friends. You _knew_ how I felt about you Riley. You fucked up and this is _your_ fault. And I know these past few years you've been trying so hard to hide it again, but I'm not the same innocent dumbass that I was in 8th grade, and you _can't_ fix everything. I _know_ you still love me, Riley."

That last sentence should have seemed sweet, but the way he was practically spitting at her with raw anger made her tremble with fear.

Especially when she could practically hear him grinning when he uttered the last sentence.

He had caught her.

He had found out what she had been trying so hard to hide for the past year; for the sake of him, for the sake of Maya, for the sake of everyone.

She still loved him and she hated him for it.

And now she hated him even more because he knew.

She had just wanted everything to go back to normal.

The only way she could achieve that was if they were all just friends without the feelings.

Because Riley had always just wanted everything to be fine.

But the situation that she was in was _not_ fine.

Her wrists had gone limp in his hands even when she had repeated in her head not to give up; she couldn't bring herself to move.

Even when she felt his lips attach on to her neck, sucking harshly on the sensitive skin below her ear, she couldn't fight back.

And then he held both of her limp wrists with one hand, twisting them behind her back.

It was when she felt the fingertips of his free-hand graze the inside of her skirt when she really panicked.

That was when she started struggling to escape, twisting her arms in any way to become free of him. She didn't like when he was like this.

She knew he had some kind of sick satisfaction _knowing_ that she was so weak. He marveled in the way that no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't be strong enough.

That's when the screaming started.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she knew the party was still going on just below her feet. Someone, _Maya_ would come save her.

She yelled once before she felt a large hand wrap around her throat. Her screams died in her throat before they could become of any assistance.

She could feel his breath in her ear while her eyes widened in shock.

"If you make a sound, I _swear_ you won't be able to breathe ever again."

And then her mouth snapped shut and the only thing she was able to muster were the hot tears that streamed down her face when she felt him tug her underwear from her body.

And for the first time in her life, Riley's will resolved.

She felt so weak. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop him.

She had to remind herself that this was one of her best friends. That he was only drunk, but that couldn't stop the fresh tears that replaced the old ones when he pushed her onto her own bed.

His eyes burned into hers again and she felt powerless.

It was as if he couldn't process emotion anymore. He was too far gone.

She couldn't see the Lucas she knew anymore.

And then he was on her, his lips scorching a trail down her slender neck as her dark hair splayed around her like a halo.

His hands held both of her wrists above her head, her fingers scraping against the wooden headboard.

She could feel his lust-filled eyes on her as he gently spread her legs apart, leaving her completely exposed to him.

Riley couldn't look at him anymore when he groaned from the sight.

Her eyes focused on the bay window to her right, and the night sky that was just beyond it.

And then he was inside of her and she wanted to scream from the pain but she was too afraid so instead she closed her eyes.

His face found the crook of her neck and she allowed her legs to wrap around his waist because he was still Lucas and he was still her best friend.

And suddenly he was groaning loudly into her neck with each deep thrust. He was mercilessly pounding into her as he cried out in pleasure.

The room was filled with the sound of him roughly smacking his hips against hers. The smacking of skin was layered with the sound of him groaning: "Fuck" in her ear. Over, and over again.

And Riley let him because she still loved him.

And then, "Look at me."

And then she did and brown eyes found green eyes. She searched, but all she could find was dark pleasure laced in his olive eyes as he thrust into her.

She wasn't sure how long she would be able to withstand without crumbling. And then after she felt like her body would explode, he moaned loud and deep and released himself into her.

And she finally let out a sigh of relief because it was over.

She pushed his heavy body off of hers and she finally felt like she could breathe again.

This time, her eyes were dry. She refused to cry.

Lucas was already passed out face down on her pillow, his pants and underwear still by his ankles. Riley ran a swift hand through her hair before promptly getting off the bed to retrieve her underwear.

She had just wanted to help.

She shouldn't have had this party.

She didn't even know where all the alcohol was coming from. And she didn't want to know.

She turned to her best friend and wondered how anything would go back to normal after that.

How could he still be her best friend after _that?_

She prayed that he wouldn't remember.

She went over to his limp form and carefully pulled his pants over his hips before folding her blanket over him.

XXXXXXX

She couldn't bring herself to move for the next couple of minutes.

She had just waited for the party to die down on it's own. It was already around 12am when it finally calmed.

Maya _still_ hadn't come up to check on her.

At around 11:50pm, Zay had unceremoniously swung open the door surprised to find Riley sitting at the foot of the bed with Lucas passed out under the covers.

He didn't think anything of Riley's red eyes; it's quite possible that he just thought she was drunk. Zay had been a bit drunk himself.

"Lucas! There you are. I've been looking for you."

 _For how long?_ Riley wanted to ask him, because she couldn't help but think what would've happened if Zay had found Lucas earlier.

But she only bit her tongue and watched as Zay grabbed his half-unconscious friend from under the arms and steadied him.

Zay finally turned to Riley, seemingly just noticing that she was in the room.

"Hey, thanks for looking after him. I know he can be a real ass when he's drunk."

The words that came out of Zay's mouth made Riley angry. Those words were so simple but they had a double meaning that only Riley would know about.

She was beyond angry.

She was so angry that all she could do was force out her most false smile.

She only watched in silence as Zay struggled to semi-carry a semi-unconscious Lucas out of her room.

Her room became impossibly dark as she finally allowed herself to fall back into her bed to close her eyes because she didn't want to be awake anymore.

It was a while after the party had settled when she felt the weight of a body who she knew to be her best friend fall besides her.

It was a while after she had felt Maya drift off into sleep while she repeated the same thing in her head over and over again.

 _Where were you? Where were you? Where were you?_


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do realize that Lucas may seem a bit OOC and extreme, but this is what I truly believe what would happen if he were to suddenly snap-and Riley would be the easiest target. Warning: abuse/sexual assault/violence.**

 **I don't own any of the characters**

 _Chapter 1_

Waking up the next day was hard for Riley.

The day after that was hard again.

But everything was normal regardless from what had happened last night (besides her occasional flinching when Maya made contact with her the next morning, which earned her a few strange looks).

And then it was like every time someone _touched_ her, her mind would flash back to the way Lucas had touched her the night before, but then she quickly learned to hide her fear.

And then her parents and Auggie came home from their concert and Maya left Riley. And then school came and she didn't know what to expect.

But, Lucas was acting normal.

So, Riley acted normal.

No one had suspected anything.

Maya would sometimes bring up having another party, but Riley would be more than quick to shut that suggestion down. She wasn't going to fall for it this time.

And then _it_ started happening.

The first time he came through her bedroom window was 3 weeks after the party. She had just assumed that he was too drunk to remember what had happened at the party.

But yet, here he was; the boy from Texas with the golden eyes and the white smile standing in her room on a Wednesday night at 11:45 pm.

She hadn't noticed when he had gone to lock the door.

She had only noticed when he had uttered those few words of," I _need_ you". And then a few more words came after that she can't exactly remember other than the fact that they were filled with sentiment.

But it didn't matter to Riley because she still loved him and he knew exactly what to say to make her let her guard down.

In a way, he was manipulating her, and in the back of her mind she knew she shouldn't give in to him so easy.

But she still couldn't bring her self to object when his lips attached to hers for the first time in 4 years, even though in the back of her mind, she could see the distant reflection of a familiar girl with blonde hair.

But then she heard the rip of a condom packet and he was inside of her again.

And this time her heart throbbed in tangent with his, but she said nothing as he moved in and out of her.

She was just thankful that this time he was softer, his anger wasn't driving him.

She just held him as he sighed in pleasure because he needed this and she was a friend who would give a friend what they needed.

Because Riley was a good person.

XXXXXXX

A few more days went by and then it happened again.

And again.

And Riley always felt ashamed afterwards but she couldn't help her self every time she saw his broad silhouette come through her bay window.

Because the way he would talk to her before he crawled into her bed was something that she had dreamt of in her childhood fantasies.

Her parents had never suspected anything either.

Maya never suspected anything.

Riley had noticed that she was quite good at hiding things.

XXXXXX

It wasn't until one day in second period when things started to change for Riley.

At first she had been letting Lucas into her room because she was his friend and he needed her on tough nights.

Even though some would say Lucas only was only telling Riley what she wanted to hear; and just enough of it to make her want to pull her underwear off.

She told her self that Lucas wasn't taking advantage of her per se, he just needed her and who was she to deny a _friend_ assistance.

But then one day during English, Riley couldn't help but notice something.

Riley was seated directly behind Maya who was directly next to Lucas. She noticed how Maya would lean slightly more towards Lucas than usual.

That Maya's hand would brush against Lucas's a bit more continually to the point where it didn't look so accidental.

And the way she said, "Huckleberry." didn't seem as much as a childhood nickname, but came out more flirty with a giggle at the end.

And Riley tried not to notice the way Lucas was letting all of this happen.

When they made quite comments or jokes about the English teacher behind her back, Lucas's broad shoulder would sometimes press against Maya's while he whispered to her.

And Riley tried not to notice the way her hand was clenching her pencil, she could feel it bending but she wouldn't allow it to break.

Riley tried not to notice how livid she was during second period English.

XXXXXXXX

That night after second period English, when a familiar Texas boy came in through her window, she wasted no time.

After weeks of their little _arrangement_ , Lucas had always been the one to pin her down and take the lead.

But this time, she was angry. She had never been so jealous before; her mind was a bit clogged. All she could think about was the display of exchanges that happened between him and Maya earlier.

She didn't wait for him to make his heartfelt _excuses_ about needing her and how she was always there for him, before she gave in and let him fuck her.

Instead, she more or less flung herself at Lucas.

Luckily, he caught her before she had started roughly grabbing at his hair.

Her tongue was in his mouth before he could even say anything.

His hands were gripping her ass before she could even walk him to the foot of her bed.

And then after a flurry of tangled limbs and biting and grabbing and licking, she was riding him. _Hard_.

And she didn't really know what she was doing because she was only 16 and he was a year older, but the amount of moans and "Oh god, _fuck_."s that she was eliciting from Lucas was enough tell her that she was doing _something_ right.

And this time was different because she felt the pleasure too.

And when she came, white light blinded her because she had never experienced such immense euphoria.

But Lucas wasn't done even when Riley was still coming down from her peak.

They had never been this rough before and Riley could feel Lucas becoming drunk with the sensation.

His hands gripped at her soft skin even harder and he pounded into her even faster from below.

And Riley whimpered in pain because she hadn't been expecting _that_ , but it also felt good. She _liked_ it.

And then she came again a little while later just as Lucas emptied himself into her.

And then she felt empty.

And she was off Lucas in a flash.

She couldn't look at him for the next couple of days.

XXXXXXXXX

He always came back.

Something had snapped in Lucas and Riley knew she was the reason.

He was giving into his primal urges.

He wasn't so gentle with her anymore.

She knew that he was hurting. He had been revealing things that she had never even knew about Mr. Perfect, and she believed him.

But Lucas had once treated Riley like a princess who needed saving and now, he was coming into her room each night with the same bullshit excuse just to fuck her hard and fast.

But she couldn't blame him because she liked it too and she believed him every time he told her how much she meant to him.

And when she came into school with new bruises along her hips and lower back, she had to pretend that she was okay.

And when she smiled at a joke that Maya made during class, she had to work harder to make her smile reach her eyes.

Because as the days went by, and the secret was kept longer, she realized that she was _not_ okay.

She felt like she was giving up part of who she used to be each time she gave in to Lucas.

She wasn't quite the same bright and innocent Riley Matthews anymore and he wasn't the same Lucas that she had known since the 7th grade.

She was constantly terrified that someone would find out about Lucas.

That _Maya_ would find out.

And the worst part was that she wanted to tell Maya.

She was in a constant state of guilt, even more so because the dark part of her that she had never even realized existed knew that she _liked_ being with Lucas like this.

She had kept secrets from her friends before, but they were nowhere near as big as this.

So when one day, when her parents weren't home and Lucas was in her bed, she asked a question.

"What do you think about Maya?" And it must have taken him completely off guard because he immediately sat up, his muscular forearm came to a rest on the side of the bed.

"What? What does she have to do with—"

She cut him off.

"Don't you feel bad?"

Riley looked up at Lucas's form as he struggled to string together a starting sentence.

"I—I. Look, Riley. I _really_ like what we have right now. And yes I do care about Maya, but I think it's for the best that no one knows about what we do. They—they just wouldn't understand."

But Riley's gaze fell because that was not the answer she wanted.

She wondered how many times she would let him make excuses before it was too late.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: This chapter (and probably the next two) is mainly focusing on Joshaya during Xmas break. This is what I think could happen if GWM wasn't so.. _disney_**

 **I don't own any of the characters**

 **Chapter 2-Joshaya**

The weeks went by and it was suddenly winter break and she was alone with her own thoughts, school finally wasn't a burden.

But it was the holidays and it had always been a tradition for Maya to spend Christmas with the Matthews family. And because it was the holidays, that meant Josh was visiting from NYU.

Josh spending the first week of the holidays with his brother had become customary after getting accepted into NYU. And now, both her uncle and best friend would be spending the week with her.

At first, Riley thought nothing of it.

Over the years, she knew that Maya had grown out of her childhood crush on Josh.

Riley was thankful that Maya didn't like Josh anymore, because it broke her heart every time time she had to watch Josh tell Maya he was too old her for her, and it broke her heart to watch Maya's heart sink every time those words came out of his mouth.

Part of her knew that Maya also had harbored a crush on Lucas as well, but it's been a while since that subject was touched upon, so Riley could't know for sure if those feelings were still there.

So yes, she was excited for the Holidays because Lucas and Zay were going back to Texas while Farkle was going on a family vacation.

So Riley was finally able to focus on her family with no other distractions.

And then Maya walked through the door and Riley's face immediately got brighter because this was her best friend.

Over the past few weeks, Riley realized that she couldn't be upset with Maya for 'flirting' with Lucas and not saving her from him at the party when she needed her the most.

Maya hadn't known. Riley had come to accept it.

And now Maya was staying with them for the first week of winter break through Christmas, and it was nice.

It was nice to have her best friend all to her self without anyone else interfering. And when Josh came over that same night, it was nice too.

Because her whole family had just sat on the couch to watch the ABC Family _25 days Til Christmas_ marathon. Riley reveled in the warmth that was brought from her family.

She hadn't felt this calm in a while. It felt good to forget a little.

She was sitting in the middle of the couch, in between Josh and Maya with Auggie sprawled out across her lap. She played with her little brother's curls as the minutes flew by.

And then minutes turned into hours and then Riley's parents had taken Auggie to tuck him in to bed, and then it was just the three of them, drowsy and only awake because of the light that the television was emitting. And then, Maya broke the calm silence.

"So Josh, how's you're second year of NYU going?"

That was the first time Riley had heard Maya talk to him all night.

And it was such a simple question and Riley was impressed that Maya sounded so nonchalant and mature.

Riley had noticed that Maya had gotten a lot more mature recently.

Riley had always been a bit jealous of Maya's subtle features that she had obtained recently. The swell of her breasts had formed as nicely as they should, her hips had widened, while Riley was stuck with next to no boobs, and overly long limbs that she still didn't really have control over.

Riley had zoned out a bit as Josh explained some of the classes that he was taking to Maya.

Though Riley wasn't listening, she allowed Josh's smooth voice and deep tone to lull her eyes shut, as she rested her head on Maya's arm.

She liked this. She needed a rest.

And it could've been hours, maybe minutes, but she felt the warmth of Maya's arm being swept from underneath her head like a slap to the face.

Riley's eyes immediately snapped open to focus on a slightly blurred version of Maya walking towards the television set to turn it off.

And then Riley drowsily looked to the side of her, her arm barely supporting her own weight, to see if Josh was still next to her.

As her eyes steadied on her uncle's face, she noticed that his eyes were trained on something.

She wondered how he didn't notice that she was non-too subtly staring at him. He seemed to be intently focused on something else.

Riley's eyes followed his line of sight that lead directly to her best friend, who was bent over the television set, trying to find the off button in the dim lighting.

And then Riley tiredly looked back at Josh and noticed something that startled her for a lack of a better word.

A feeling similar to déjà vu washed over her as she took in Josh's facial expression.

She had seen that look too many times directed towards herself in the past few weeks.

The lip bite coupled with the lustful dark stare was something that Riley had grown accustomed to with her times with Lucas.

She had never expected to see her Uncle mimicking it. And to her best friend nonetheless.

 _Too young_ —was Riley's immediate thought as she took in her uncle's concupiscence stare.

Maya was only 16 and her uncle was almost 20.

Maya was still _way_ too young for him.

And Riley felt worse because she knew exactly what was running through his head.

Maybe before her situation with Lucas, she would've still been naïve, and just brush off Josh's stare without thinking too much on it.

But now she felt nauseous because she knew that he wanted her.

And she felt like she was intruding on an intimate moment in between the two, even though it was obviously one sided, her best friend's back was still bent over the television.

The whole observation had only taken a few seconds and then Riley was back with her head on the warm cushion of the couch and her eyes squeezed tight, trying hard to wipe her memory of the recent realization concerning her uncle.

She hoped Maya wouldn't find out.

Part of her couldn't blame him.

She knew Maya was beautiful. But that still didn't make it okay for her uncle—who had always been the first to reject—to be secretly lusting over his niece's best friend.

While she wondered what had happened to her uncle's judgment, she heard Maya's soft footsteps getting closer to the couch.

"Riles."

It came out as a sweet whisper, a tone that Maya only used for Riley and Riley alone, and Riley still pretended to be asleep because she still didn't want to get up from her admittedly comfortable condition.

"Come 'on Riles, it's like, 12 o'clock. We have to get to bed."

And then she felt a small palm lightly pat her cheek. And then,

"It's okay Maya, you don't have to wake her up, I got her. I'll just carry her to her room."

And Maya must have nodded or something because then Riley heard her soft footfalls disappear to what could only be upstairs.

Riley tried not to blow her cover as Josh gathered her into his arms and carried her upstairs.

Instead, she only rested her head on his broad shoulder and was thankful to have an uncle like him.

And as he carried her, she started to think that maybe, she had been wrong.

Maybe she had been reading too much into the exchange between Josh to Maya.

Riley had a tendency to think the worst when it came to people she cared about.

So she let that thought calm her racing mind as she felt her body get slowly lowered on to the bed.

"Goodnight, Riley." Came a deep whisper and then a sweet kiss on the forehead, and the feeling of soft blankets falling over her body.

She didn't have to open her eyes to know that Maya was already in bed next to her.

Riley reached her hand over to Maya with her eyes still closed, because she knew her best friend. And then laced her fingers with Maya's smaller, more slender ones, and then dreamed sweet dreams.

She hadn't had a goodnight's sleep in a while.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

And when she woke up, she felt refreshed.

And she liked the way the sunshine reflected off the bay window to wash a blanket of warmth over her.

And when she cracked her eyes open, she liked the way her room had an almost angelic aura about it.

And she liked that her best friend was still asleep besides her because that would never change.

XXXXXXX

She waited a long time before Maya finally awoke.

They got ready; they did the girl things that they usually did in the mirror before going down for breakfast.

Riley was immediately greeted with her parents and Auggie, already helping themselves to pancakes that Topanga had made.

"Good morning, girls." Topanga's eyes brightened when she saw her daughter come down the stairs.

"Good morning." Maya politely said back before Riley could answer.

They plopped down in their usual chairs, unconsciously linking arms in the process.

After helping themselves to pancakes, Riley finally realized something.

"Hey, where's uncle Josh?"

She and Maya looked around quizzically, as if he would somehow appear out of nowhere.

Cory placed his orange juice on the coaster after taking a sip before answering.

"He's still asleep." He said it in a bit of an ironic way, with his brow furrowed, as if Josh being asleep was somehow the girls' fault.

Topanga cut in,

"Yeah, he is completely knocked out. We went up to check on him, but he didn't seem like he would be waking up for a while."

Auggie seemed a little deflated that his favorite uncle wouldn't be sharing breakfast with them that morning, but Riley couldn't help but feel relieved.

What she had discovered earlier had made its way back into her brain; she knew she would've acted extremely uncomfortable and awkward if he had come down.

She knew she wouldn't be able to make normal conversation with him that morning without thinking about Maya first.

She knew she was thinking too much, that there was nothing to worry about, but she _just_ couldn't help it.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: This is a continuation of the Josh and Maya story.**

 **I don't own any of the characters**

 **Chapter 3-Joshaya**

It was here.

It was finally Christmas.

And luckily, Riley was at ease because nothing 'out of the ordinary' had happened.

And by 'out of the ordinary' she meant nothing Josh and Maya/weird staring happened again in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

She had gotten exactly what she had wanted from her parents (an assortment of clothing from Demolition) while Maya had actually gotten her the pair of earrings that she had been non-stop talking about.

And now, she was with her family in the afternoon and her cheeks hurt from smiling so much because she had her mom's home cooked meal that her grandmother actually approved of, and Shawn was here and everything was fine.

She was currently sitting on the couch with Auggie in her lap, though he was getting a bit too big for her to still get away with holding him like that.

And Shawn was cordially chatting with Maya next to the Christmas tree while Josh plopped down next to Riley. And this time around, there was more family in the Matthews residence, including Eric, Morgan, and even Jack had showed up.

Unfortunately, Maya's mom was working a late shift at her new job, so she couldn't be here.

But Riley had still never seen Maya smile so much in one day.

Maya had even received a present that had been shipped to Riley's house from her father.

Riley knew that Maya loved the Matthews, and something in Riley lit up every time she saw her best friend's dimpled smile appear.

Riley had admittedly gotten a bit misty eyed a few times this entire afternoon as she surveyed her surroundings because everyone was so _happy_.

And she was so happy.

But the day flew by fast and before she knew it, it was after dinner. The sky was getting darker, and the atmosphere of the room had gotten calmer.

Everyone was squeezed on or around the couch to watch one last Christmas movie before they had to leave.

Josh had quickly excused himself to try to find his old Christmas sweater that he was 'sure he had packed'.

"It's to get in the _mood_." He had said with a smirk before everyone snorted and giggled at his antics.

A few minutes after the movie _Elf_ had started, The ring of a phone distracted everyone from the movie. Riley and Topanga turned to where the repetitive noise was coming from.

Maya sheepishly grabbed her ringing phone from her jeans pocket and quickly got out from under the blankets and from being squeezed in between Riley and Topanga.

Riley stared at Maya quizzically before Maya mouthed the word 'Mom', while pointing to her phone.

Riley watched as she ran upstairs to answer the call.

It wasn't until the movie was at the point where Will Ferrell got in the very comical snowball fight, when Riley realized that she _really_ needed to use the bathroom.

Maybe drinking three cups of hot chocolate before the movie _wasn't_ such a good idea.

 _It seemed like a good idea at the time,_ Riley thought as she quietly made her way upstairs.

XXXXXX

She had just finished using the bathroom and was in the process of crossing through the hall when she heard something.

There were angry and harsh whispers, coming out fast and sharp through the air.

Her head immediately turned to Josh's guest bedroom, which was right across from the bathroom.

The door was opened just a crack. She crept closer.

Her eye was just inline with the sliver of light from the cracked door that lead into Josh's room.

Her vision was only met with the corner of Josh's bed and the slivery white wall behind it.

But she could hear her uncle whispering fast, and then she heard another voice.

A voice that she would recognize anywhere.

Riley's hands clammed up.

She felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle uncomfortably as her heart rate sped.

She craned her neck to get a better few. She wanted to disprove her own suspicions.

Riley could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation—"Maya…too old…you can't…Maya, seriously."

And then Maya responding back with an even harsher whisper that Riley couldn't quite make out.

And then, silence.

And Riley was a bit startled when she finally saw her uncle move more into her line of vision.

He was wearing that stupid Christmas sweater that looked a bit too tight around his arms.

Riley squinted a bit because she could really only see half of him, his face was obscured by a shadow from the lighting.

He was looking down at something, but she couldn't quite make out his expression.

And then, she saw the long mane of straight, blonde hair.

But the back of her head was much lower to the ground than her uncle's, so Riley assumed that she was kneeling.

Maybe she was looking for something that fell on the floor.

Riley's eyes focused on the back of Maya's head questioningly.

She was kneeled right in front of Josh's waist.

Riley couldn't make sense of anything that was going on as a million possible scenarios ran through her head.

Her racing thoughts were cut short as she heard the sound of a zipper being pulled down.

And it seemed as if the door had cracked open even wider because suddenly, Riley was seeing too much.

Maya's head was still blocking most of Josh's waist, but Riley was smart enough to put two and two together.

The realization dawned on her too late, but it hit her like a punch to the face.

And then she watched as her best friend's hands came to a rest next to Josh's jean clad thighs.

And then she watched as Josh threw his head back with a low moan.

And she still watched her best friend's head bob rapidly back and forth on her uncle's penis.

It was like all of Riley's senses had become numb because _never_ had she thought that anything remotely similar to this would _ever_ happen.

She could feel her heart pounding hard and it hurt her ribs and her eyes widened more and more.

Because she couldn't make sense of any of this.

And she felt sick, but when she saw Josh's large hands grip the back of Maya's head and pull her even closer, that was when she had to run.

But she was stuck in place.

And she tried to close her eyes to shield her self, but her ears where only filled with Josh's low groans and the sound of wet lips sliding against skin.

Riley could feel the bile crawl up her throat when she finally got her legs to move.

She hoped that they heard her.

Because she felt like crying.

XXXXXXX

She felt like crying even after she had settled back on the couch and pretended to watch the movie.

And she almost did cry when Maya came down the stairs a few minutes later, acting like everything was normal.

And then Josh followed suit a few minutes after Maya with his half smirk plastered on his face saying, "I _finally_ found the sweater."

And everyone laughed because of course Josh would take that long to find a lousy Christmas sweater just to watch a movie, but only Riley knew the truth.

And she hated him.

She didn't look at Maya the whole rest of the movie.

Instead, she stared adamantly at the TV screen, laughing when she should, but she wasn't even paying attention.

Her gaze was burning holes in the individual pixels of the television set.

Her heart was beating fast because now she had two secrets to keep.

XXXXXXXX

Everyone was long gone by the time Riley had gone to bed.

Maya was beside her the whole rest of the night.

Each time, Riley spoke to Maya, she expected Maya to say something, _anything_.

Riley expected her best friend to confess.

She didn't like how good Maya was at pretending everything was okay.

She didn't like how good Josh was at acting nonchalant.

Riley wanted to scream at Maya, she wanted to say the worst things she could think of, she wanted to say that Josh was just using her, she wanted to yell at Maya for being so careless and selfish, but she didn't even know what to think anymore.

Half of her wanted to use the; _That's my uncle!_ Excuse, but she knew that if anything, she should be yelling at Josh; _That's my best friend!_

But half of Riley couldn't blame Maya because now she was in the same predicament as Riley.

Riley wasn't sure how long Maya's situation with Josh had been going on, she had assumed/prayed that _it_ had only happened for the first time today; hence all the arguing.

But now they were both keeping secrets; the only difference was that now, Riley knew.

Riley toyed with the matching ring that her and Maya had bought all those times ago. She remembered when 'Ring Power' was still relevant, didn't that mean she deserved the truth?

But, Maya hadn't gotten the truth either.

Riley finally closed her eyes with a deep sigh, her fingers still locked around the ring.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **A/N: Reminder that this story is sort of an AU because now that season 2 has ended, I've decided that Lucas's decision to stay friends has continued into their second year of high school, rather than what the actual spoilers of season 3 has told us. This is what I believe what would happen if it went on long enough.**

She lied there on the bed, zoning off completely as Lucas's soft lips sucked and nipped at her slender neck.

He had finally gotten back from Texas but school hadn't started up just yet.

Maya still hadn't confessed to anything.

But Maya had gone to be with her family during the end of break.

Riley stared at the ceiling and wasn't really taking note of the way her hands gripped at Lucas's short brown hair a little too tightly. Only half of her was paying attention to the way Lucas would periodically groan into her neck, as his hands would travel and grip up and down her sides.

He pressed his hardness into her but they were still wearing clothes. None of this really mattered because her mind was clouded with everything that she had witnessed during Christmas.

She couldn't help but think of Maya and Josh.

She was concocting every possible scenario in which to tell Maya that she knew of her little secret, but she also felt like if she confessed she would probably die from embarrassment.

She wanted to forget about it, she really did.

But she couldn't forget when the elephant in the room always seemed so much bigger every time she looked at Maya.

And she sort of snapped back to reality as she felt Lucas's strong hands travel higher and higher up the front of her red blouse.

And then suddenly, Riley's mouth was moving before her brain even had time to catch up with what she was saying.

"We need to tell Maya."

That stopped Lucas's rather aggressive hand traveling on Riley's ribcage upfront.

He immediately sat up and Riley suddenly had to urge to laugh from his comically disheveled hair, which was now styled into an exaggerated updo.

However, Riley did nothing but clear her throat awkwardly and break eye contact.

When Riley spoke again, she decided it was because she had already dug herself into a deep enough hole.

"We need to tell everyone."

And by everyone she obviously only met her immediate friend group. It was only fair to them.

Her eyes finally shifted to his and she found a vulnerable 17-year-old boy. Lucas quickly looked away from her strong gaze.

The silence crackled loudly in Riley's ears as she politely awaited his reply.

"Riley, I—"

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

Riley's eyes widened just as much as Lucas's who was also momentarily frozen in panic. Neither of them moved from the bed.

And then—

"Riley, dinner's ready."

The muffled voice of Josh Matthews came through the door and Riley was never more thankful in her life that that door was still closed.

Josh is just about the only person in her entire family besides Uncle Shawn that actually knocks on the door before entering or speaking.

Riley's reply came out a bit more shakily than she had intended.

"Okay Josh. Just a minute."

Riley's breath was caught in her throat as she anxiously listened to the receding footsteps of Josh.

And then silence.

Riley couldn't tear her eyes from her white bed spread.

She had such an awful feeling in her stomach that she couldn't even open her mouth; she just focused on slowing her breathing.

The next time she looked up, Lucas was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next time Lucas came back, he was extra rough with her.

There were no words exchanged until after he had fucked her into oblivion.

Afterwards she laid on her side encased in Lucas's warm embrace while he whispered apologies in her ear while lightly pecking her cheek and the back of her neck.

But she felt numb.

She didn't know how he could justify what he had just done to her, what he had been doing to her for the past few months.

She didn't know how she could justify allowing him to come back again and again. She was still _so_ young.

What would her _parents_ say if they finally found out? She didn't want to know.

Part of her wished that Josh would walk in on them, and put an end to this mess, but it never happened.

Instead Riley was stuck in a constant battle between being a good friend and being a good friend.

She still loved Lucas and he knew that, but she also loved her friends.

She loved Maya but she knew either way, Maya would get hurt.

XXXXXXXXXX

Josh ended up staying at the Matthews residence a bit longer than normal so two days before Josh's departure from her house, Riley decided to investigate.

Her nerves and anxiousness wouldn't allow her to do otherwise. She had slowly and cautiously knocked on Josh's door.

She hoped that he wouldn't open it, to save her from the awkward situation she was no doubt getting herself into.

To Riley's immediate dismay, the door swung open to reveal her uncle in sports attire with ear buds still in one ear.

Josh's half smile immediately appeared when he saw his niece.

Riley forced a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes as she stepped inside the guest room.

XXXXXXXX

"I was just finishing my workout. I was gonna watch some House of Cards, you interested?"

Riley did nothing but give Josh an awkward thumbs up that had her cringing as she made her way over to plop down on Josh's navy blue bedspread.

Riley's muteness didn't seem to faze Josh as he started the show with his laptop on an episode that she wasn't familiar with.

She couldn't keep it in any longer, she had to say _something_.

"Uncle Josh."

He immediately turned to her in question and Riley almost immediately froze, thinking she had made a mistake but it was definitely too late to back out now.

Riley swallowed the lump in her throat before continuing.

"How—how did you like Christmas this time around?"

Josh immediately broke into a warm smile and started talking amiably about how great it was to finally be back after being away for so long, which calmed Riley's nerves significantly.

There was nothing to be afraid of, this was just her Uncle Josh, he always knew how to make her feel better; he was always on her side.

So, gaining more confidence from Josh's animated response, she continued, "Yeah and I know Maya had a lot of fun too. She missed seeing…everyone."

Josh did nothing but blink at Riley, probably wondering why she was bringing up Maya even though it made more sense in pertinence to the topic in Riley's mind.

Before Josh could from any sort of response, Riley was speaking over him, it was like she was just beginning to push a weight off her and she couldn't stop now.

"Yeah and Maya really hadn't seen _you guys_ in a while so she was really happy to be able to hang out with you and everyone else." And before Riley knew it, she was rambling and the word vomit just kept coming as Josh looked at her quite amusedly while also half paying attention to what was happening on the computer screen in his lap.

And then Riley almost wanted to punch herself from the amount of nonsense coming out of her mouth that was beginning to get a bit too personal on Maya's behalf.

She hadn't meant for it to go like this.

But, it _was_ better than just blurting out that she knew what he and Maya did and then fleeing the scene, which was her original option.

Both Riley and Josh had their eyes trained on the computer screen while Riley continued to speak. Riley wasn't really watching though.

"—and how did you feel when you saw Maya because I know it's been a while and she was really happy to be seeing you again and—" Josh cut off Riley which made both of their eyes tear away from the computer screen.

This time, he didn't look as happy. Not to say that he looked sad either, he kind of had the expression of parent who had to break the news to their kid that their beloved pet hamster had gone to that big hamster wheel in the sky.

"I know what this is about, Riley. Look, I know she's your best friend and you're just trying to help her but Riley, you know I'm too old for her. Yes I was happy to be seeing her again after not seeing her for so long, but that's where it ends. I'm sure you're just reading too much into Maya's excitement. Besides, she hasn't expressed her crush on me since she was in 8th grade. Trust me Riles, you don't need to try to convince me to give Maya a chance because she doesn't have a crush on me anymore and I am way to old for her."

And he said it so easily and nicely just like the soft smile and knowing look on his face that coalesced with his words.

And just like that, Riley was convinced.

She was so convinced that she didn't even notice when the episode ended.

It was only when she sat again in the comfort of her own bed before realizing that everything that Josh had just said was

a complete _lie._


End file.
